All is full of Love
by ArtImitatesSex
Summary: Based on the amazing fanvid by Fading Spark. She sees him when she is sleeping, but is he truly real? ClaireKensei. Season Two spoilers! RandR


**All is Full of Love**

It had seemed like days since the last time she gotten to lie down and close her weary eyes. Between moving to California and starting a new school; Claire had found herself near the swelling edge of exhaustion more often than not. It was hard enough trying to keep your real identity a secret but dealing with the loneliness of that same seclusion even in her own home was smothering. The only place she could truly be herself was in her dreams.

Just moments after she laid her head down on her pink pillow; seconds after she closed her heavy lidded eyes, she drifted away into a peaceful sleep.

Most of Claire's dreams were clear and crisp and words burst around her loudly and without static. These things were all absent during this particular dream. She heard the sound of birds chirping and of the wind passing through dried piles of leaves. She tried her best to force her eyes to focus but there were rays of light obstructing her to do so. The only thing that she could hear clearly was a voice. Low, booming and of all things, British. He speaks to her but she doesn't register what it could have been.

She turns to get a good look at who had spoken to her; through the blur she could tell it was a man with blonde hair. The dark colored armor that he wore made him look large and it intimidated Claire. She opened her mouth to speak but found her dream world slipping away.

"Wait, who are you?" Claire yelled out as she desperately tried to cling to her dream.

"I'm Kensei Takezo, who the hell are you?" He said, his voice echoing deep in her mind. Suddenly, he was gone.

"Claire?" She heard her father's voice, but didn't listen to what he was saying to her. Light fluttered in through her window shades and she realized it must be morning.

"Dad?" She said, looking at him with confused eyes. "What are you doing in here?" She asked.

"What do you mean? Your alarm has been going off for almost five minutes…you were sleeping right through it." Noah said as Claire sat up in bed and tried to fully come down from her dream. It had felt so powerful that she couldn't shake the voice from her mind.

"Kensei." Claire whispered to herself.

"What?" Noah asked, pushing some of Claire's hair out of her face; behind her ear. Claire looked at her father suddenly, realizing that she had said the man's name out loud.

"Uhmm, nothing." She said, although unconvincingly.

"Are you feeing okay?" Noah asked, watching his daughter attentively.

"Yeah, I'm just tired." Claire said as she tried to convince him with a smile. Sometimes Noah just knew when not to push the subject so he stood from his seat at the edge of the bed. "Come on, you can't be late for school." Noah said as he walked out of Claire's room to leave her to get ready.

In near record time, Claire got ready for school. Grabbed her car keys; kissed her father goodbye and drove away. Little did Noah know, Claire didn't drive to her high school that morning. She made her way to the local library and found the nearest computer that was available. She knew she needed some kind of closer from the dream she had. His voice seemed too real to be mistaken for imagination. He seemed too real.

What Claire didn't know what that the moment she typed in the name Kensei, her whole world would turn upside down. This man, Kensei Takezo, was a man of Japanese legend from nearly one thousand years before her time. His tales of bravery and good deeds were known throughout Japan. After hours of reading about all the amazing things he had done in his day, Claire decided to go home.

By the time she had finished getting reprimanded by her father and climbed back into bed, she had become content in the fact that he was long before her time; because he was a good person. Even though she couldn't shake his voice from her head, it was enough.

"What are you?" He said. His voice deep and his accent; perfect. He stood in front of her as he examined her clothing with a judgmental eye.

"What kind of question is that? I'm a person, obviously." Claire said, trying her best to laugh off his rude question. To her surprise, he smiled back.

"So sorry, you look…where are you from?" Kensei asked as he pulled his horse along with him as he began to walk through the fields of green grass. He looked back after a moment which Claire took a sign to walk with him. She caught up to him and answered honestly.

"Uhm, California?" Claire said trying her best to keep up with his large strides.

"Where?" He asked, looking down at her. Taking immediate note of how well the streams of the setting suns light reflected off her shining blonde hair.

"Nowhere. Where are we going?" Claire changed the subject immediately. Kensei just smirked back at her.

"I'm parched. It's time to set off home." A blush rose onto Claire's cheeks as she obediently followed Kensei over one hill after another, until they arrived at a small wooden shack, which she guessed was his home. By the time they arrived there, the sun had already set and the stars began to shine in the quiet night sky.

"Come inside, we'll have some tea." Kensei said as he led Claire into his small, cozy home. It was only one room, with a small pit for fire in one secluded corner. In the opposite corner was a pile of furs which looked to be shaped as a bed. She sat down on top of the furs as Kensei started to boil some water and separate tea leaves for their enjoyment.

"How long have you been in Japan?" Claire asked as she watched him strip himself of his heavy armor; trying to seem like it didn't affect her.

"Oh, I would say almost two years." He said as his last bit of armor fell to the floor with a thud. She looked up at him and saw him standing in just a black robe. Moments later, a mug of hot tea was in her hands. It warmed her to the very brim and she thanked him with a toothy smile. To her surprise again, he smiled right back.

"I like that." She said, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Like what?" Kensei asked.

"When you smile." Claire said shyly as she took a sip of the tea. It burned all the way down, but in this moment it felt good. Kensei was silent as he looked at her, unblinkingly. She noticed his eyes flitter down to her lips only for a split second before popping back up to her hazel eyes. Before she could stop it however, it all started to fade to black.

Claire gently opens her eyes and found herself staring at the dull whiteness of her ceiling. Another day to get through before she could go to sleep again.

"I don't want to wake up." Claire found herself whispering quietly in his ear. Her breath tickling him and making him smile in spite of himself. He looked up, watching their hands which were hovering, entwined above them. His skin tone just slightly darker than hers.

"Then don't! Stay here, forever!" He said loudly as he sat up, looking down at her giggling face. She stopped giggling seconds later, as she found she couldn't take her green eyes away from his blue ones. These were the only quiet times in her life and every time she woke up she felt like she was leaving a piece of herself behind.

"I'll wake up eventually." Claire said dejectedly as her hand reached for his once more.

"Then let's the most of it while we can." Kensei said as he stood up, pulling Claire along with him. They walked out of his home together; hand and hand.

It took Claire a few seconds to realize that Kensei was on the ground. She looked up and saw a few armored men holding bows and she added up where the arrows were. Kensei was bleeding out of three wounds on his chest. The attackers ran off just as Kensei hit the ground.

Claire felt helpless, the only thing she could think to do was pull out of the arrows. But the moments she did, his agonizing cries made her stop.

"Claire." He managed to gasp before his hand landed with a soft thud on the dirt. Tears streamed down Claire's face as she looked from his face to his wounds and back again.

"Kensei…" She sobbed. Moments later she noticed that the first arrow wound ha closed up around itself in an all-too-familiar way. With her mouth agape as she watched his eyes flutter open and come back to life. Their eyes met and for a moment there was nothing but awkward silence.

"You just healed yourself." Claire said to a very shocked looking Kensei. They were back in his shack and Claire was trying to explain to him what had happened.

"No, I didn't. It's physically impossible to heal yourself of an arrow wound like that." Kensei said as he stood up and towered over Claire.

"It may have been here, but where I'm from…just, look." She said as reached over and grabbed his sword from the floor. She pulled it out of its hilt and pushed the blade down onto the delicate skin of her arm. Kensei rushed to stop her but it was too late. She had cut a large gash across her forearm and all Kensei could do was stare. Seconds later, it began to heal itself.

Kensei looked up into Claire's eyes and took a moment to let what had just happened sink in. Suddenly his expression of astonishment began to fade and he looked scared.

"Claire!" He called out.

"Kensei, I'm right here." Claire said with an awkward smile.

"You're disappearing." Kensei said and it was true. Claire was starting to fade away and before she knew it, she was awake and back in her room. Far away from Kensei's comfort.

Claire could feel the tears falling from her eyes even before she opened them. She knew she was back in her own bed, with her blanket pulled up to her chin. She couldn't smell the smoky scent of the corner fire or feel the callous touch of his fingertips. She was in her room but she was not home. She sat up in bed and quickly came to the conclusion that she would not stop looking for him. He felt so genuine that she knew it couldn't have all been a dream. He couldn't be a figment of her resting mind.

She stood up out of bed and ran downstairs, not even pausing to acknowledge Lyle in the hallway. She took a seat down at the family computer and clicked excitedly on her internet browser. The Google homepage was the first thing to pop-up, and taking a chance she typed in his name.

After searching through pages and pages worth of repeated information, Claire saw something that caught her interest. A man by the name of Kensei Takezo was currently residing in Reseda, California. Although Claire knew she would be severely punished for her next actions; she wrote down the address and left. Leaving school and responsibility behind but she knew she was moving her destiny forward.

Almost a half an hour later she arrived at her destination. It looked almost like an office building, the walls were all white; so white it made her feel dirty. She walked in, clutching her messenger bag tight in her tiny fists. There were people moving around her but they were paying her no attention. In the distance, she saw a man standing with his back towards her. She recognized the short blonde hair and something in her gut told her, that it was Kensei.

She walked a bit forward and in a voice sopping in faux confidence, she said his name. Immediately he turned around and looked at the young woman in front of him. She saw the change of expression on is face, going from curious to dumbstruck. Claire doesn't say anything while she is waiting for Kensei to speak first. He walks forward until he is mere inches away from her.

"Claire?" He asks in his familiar accented voice. Claire lets out a huge sigh of relief as she lets herself fall into his arms. He embraces her with eagerness, one hand losing itself in her blonde locks.

"I thought I had only dreamt you." Kensei said as he stood feet away from Claire, both of them ringing their hands nervously. They were face to face in Kensei's apartment, on the second level of the office building. It was a small studio apartment, just big enough for Kensei himself. At this point, Claire couldn't figure out which of them seemed more nervous; Kensei could barely get out two words without mumbling.

"I thought that at first…but everything felt so real." Claire said as she took a step towards Kensei. He watched her every move with intent eyes; wide and excited. "You're special right? Like me?" Claire asked as she watched Kensei take a step towards her. The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife and Claire was desperate for it to dissipate as quickly as possible.

Kensei nodded at her question and took another step towards Claire. Now they were only a few feet apart and Claire began to feel a knot form in the pit of her stomach. She knew what was coming next.

"I'm going to kiss you now..." Kensei said in such a low whisper it made shivers run from Claire's toes to her finger tips. He stepped up to her until their noses were practically touching. Strands of her hair reached out and tickled his nose as he leaned down to press his lips against hers. Her lip-gloss tasted like watermelon and he tasted like cigarettes and coffee; a combination Claire found intriguing in the least. After a few breathtaking moments of their lips dancing together, Kensei broke the kiss.

Claire's eyes stayed closed for a second more, savoring the taste of his lips before looking back up at him. A smiled sweetly at her.

"Just like I've always dreamed…" Claire whispered with a smile as they both leaned towards each other for another kiss.

The End


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